Cartridge-feeder for machine-guns



(No Model.)

4 Sheets 8heet 1.

L. F. BRUCE.

CARTRIDGE FEEDER FOR MACHINE GUNS. No; 247,158. Patented Sep't. 20,1881.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Model.)

L. P3111103. I CARTRIDGE FEEDER FOR MACHINE GUNS- No; 247,158. Patented Sept. 20,1881.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets8heet 3.

L. F. BRUCE. CARTRIDGE FEEDER FOR MACHINE GUNS. No. 247,158. Patented Sept. 20,1881;

O \0 O O O O O O O O AMMJ O O O 0 O O O O O a 4 Sheets-Sheet 4'.

(No Model.)

L. F. BRUCE.

CARTRIDGE FEEDER EOE MACHINE GUNS. N0..247,158. Patented Sept. 20,1881.

j 1 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

I -LUCIE'N FFBRUOE, OF: SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

GARTRI DG E-FEEDE-R' FOR MACHINE-GUNS.

I V SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Pate nt No. 247,158, dated September 20, 1881.

- ailme t it may concern "Be'iltknown that I, LUoIEN F." Enrica, a

icitizen-of theUnited States, residing at Springfield, i i-the county of Hampden and State. of

Massachusetts, have invented new and'useful Improvements in OartridgerFeeders-for Machine-Guns, of which the followinglis a specification. fl 1 '1 This invention relates to the details of the constructionfof cartridge-feedin g devices for machine and other guns, the object being to provide an, improved feeder for. said purpose adapted to receive cartridges rapidly and conveni'ehtlyfrom an ordinary paper packing-box,

thus obviatiugqthe necessity of providing a special packing-box for cartridges destined to be-fed' therefrom to said guns, and, having received-the cartridges from said box in two lines, to automatically operate to cause said cartridge's to loo-delivered to and throughthe hopper'of said gun in a single line formed alterhately of one and then the other of said two lines of cartridges; and, furthermore, to provide for said ,feeding devices improvedcartridge straightening, guiding, and feed-stopping mechanism.

In the drawings forming part of this 'speci I fication, Figure 1 is a perspective view illuspart'above its foot. Fig. 4- isaview, partly ;.in-ls ectiou, of some of the detail parts.- Fig. his a perspective'view, partly in section, of the' cartridge-feeder filled with cartridges. L49

" V of the parts shown in Fig. 3, showing one of the grooves of the conductor emptied of its I ,Fig. 10 illustrates the part It and the hopper d of the gun, having some of my improve Fig.6 is a perspective view of the front side cartridges. Fig. 7 illustrates the position in which a. box of cartridges is held when placing them .inhthe conductor of the feeder. Fig. 8 is a transverse sectionthroughthe conductor be tween the cartridges. Fig. 9 is a plan view of a box of cartridges with ,the cover removed.

Application-filed July 23, 188 1. (No model.)

inents applied'thereto independent of my particular cartridge-conductors. -In the drawings, It represents that part of a machine-gun upon which the hopper d is located, and to which the cartridge-feeder is secured. to is the carrier-wheel of the gun. a is the foot of the feeder. e is an arm hanging down over the end of the foot 0.

e is a screw passing through arm 0 and having a shoe, e, hung on its end under am e.

d is an upwardly-projecting end to the hopper of. the gun, onto which the foot of the feeder is secured by screw e and shoe e.

foot 0 of the feeder. 0 is a. roller-stop sliding vertically between supports 12 i.

0 is a spring-actuated bolt in the rollerstopo. v I

nisalongitudinally-fluted cartridge-straightening roller, =su'pported on proper bearings between supports ii on the side of the foot 0, and one side of which projects through the side of said foot and into the passage therein, through which the cartridges pass on their way to the carrier-wheel w of the gun.

tridge'conducton'froin which rises vertically a flat post, a. A recess is formed on therear face of said parts b anda, as in Fig. 3, for the reception of the spring 2 and piston 3, the upper end of said piston havinga bearing on the underside of a stud, 4, projecting from the rear face of the cartridge-conductor a, and a collar just below the upper end of said piston bears upon the upper end of spring 2. v

I 6 is ascrew passing through the post a into the back of the cartridge-conductora, and upon which the latter swings.-

zz are two switch-plates,having their upper edges inclined toward the single groove in the part b of the cartridge-conductor, and setting thereon on each side of said groove.

7 '7 are slots in the lower ends of the sides of the cartridgeconduetor a. f is the central partition between the two grooves in said conductor a.

8 is the cartridge-box.

'v is a cnrved -gnide-lip han ging on the lower i i are vertical supports on the side of the b is the single-grooved portion of the car- 2 amass end of the cartridge-feeder opposite to the side of roller n.

The sin gle-groovcd partb of the feeder, together with the flat posta and the foot 0, constitute a frame, which, as well as the grooved conductor a and the other parts named, are of a suitable metallic construction.

The part h of the gun and the carrier-wheel w thereof represent parts of the well-known Gatling gun.

The form and general construction of the feeder can well be understood by reference to Figs. 1 and 5, and its'operation is as follows: The feeder is placed in the hopper of the gun and fastened thereon by turning screw e and forcibly clamping the end 01 of the hopper between the face of shoe e and the end of the foot 0, and in so doing the parts of the feeder are brought into the relation to the parts of the gun-hopper which is illustrated in Figs.1 and 2. The conductor a is now charged with cartridges, the operator taking the box Sin one hand, holding the other against the heads of the cartridges to retain them in the box, and introducing the end of the series-of cartridges in the box into the twogrooves in the conductor a, as in Fig. 7, he draws the box;

down until the heads of all the cartridges have entered said grooves, when he draws the box away from them, leaving them as seen in Fig. 5, one column leading directly down into the hopper of the gun, and the other resting upon the inclined edgeof one of plates 2 by the side of the lower single groove. As before mentioned, said conductor a is especially adapted to take cartridges from an ordinary paper packing-box, provision for this having been made by making the partition f between the two grooves in the conductor a of a wedge form in cross-sectiou, thus preventing the spreading eifect of a thick partition passing between the cartridges at some distance below their heads, which would be to crowd them apartlaterall'y and break the cartridge-box; and when it is remembered that to feed the Gatling gun when beingfired the operator must place the contents of each cartridge-box in the conductor with the utmost rapidity, the great utility of the described form of partition f will be appreciated. As thecartridges feed down to the hopper of the gun those in the groove of conductor a, which is in a line with the groove in the part b below, as in Fig. 5, feed down first, and thosein theadj oinin g groove remain stationary but as soon as the last cartridgein said downmoving row has passed from the groove in the conductor a into the single groove'in the part b the weight. of the adjoining column of cartridges upon the inclined edge of whichever of the switch-plates z 2 it may rest upon causes the lower end of the conductor a to swing away from said switch-plate and carry the end of the groove in which said stationary row of eartrldges 1s over the end of the single groove in the part b, and, so leave said cartridges free to follow the first-named column into the hopper of the gun.

Thus it-will be seen that during the downfeeding of the cartridges in conductor a, cartridges being in both grooves, whenever the groove therein which is in a line with the single groove below becomes empty the lower end of said conductor will swing and bring the adjoining groove into line with the upper end of said single groove. end of said conductor a swings from one side to the other, as above described, the spring 2, Fig. 3, is slightly compressed as said conductor swings past the center, and, then springing back against the shoulder on piston 3, throws the lower end of said conductor quickly to the side toward which it was started by the weight of one of the columns of cartridges against the edge of plate a, as aforesaid.

When the cartridges have been placed in the grooves in the conductor a their outer ends, owing to the weight of the ball, hang down, as in'Fig. 5, and they maintain that position When the lower on reaching the foot 0 of the feeder; but after they arrive at that point it is desirable that they should assume such a position as will cause them to strike squarely against the carrier w of the gun when they reach it, and not fall ball first against it.

To so control the movement of the cartridges to straighten them and change-the position of those at the lower end of the column, so that those numbered 10 and 11 in Fig. 5 shall take the position of that one numbered 12 before it reaches said carrier as, the fluted straighteningroller n is hung in the side of the foot 0, so as to revolve partly in the cartrid ge-passage therethrough, and is supported between supported t, as above described. Said cartridges, on reaching roller n, lie on one of the flutes thereon, and their weight revolves said roller, and the cartridges from thence drop against the side of lip 12, and are made to fall in proper position onto the carrier :10 of the gun, as shown in Fig. 2.

The sliding roller-stop o is fitted to be moved up and down between the supports 13 i, and is held frictionally in place, up or down, by the pressure of the end of the piston 0 against one'of. said supports, actuated by a suitable spring.

When it becomes desirable front any cause to stop the cartridges from feeding down through the foot 0 to the carrier as, said rollerstop 0 is moved down against the 'roller n,

.therebypreven ting it from revolving and stopping the cartridges from passing by it.

. The advantages pertaining to the employment of they straightening-roller n and the curved lip 21 in the hopper of a machine-gun may be-enjoyed by so constructing said hopper that said roller will operate in the side thereof, as it does in the side of the foot 0 of the feeder, and the curved lip '0 may be extended down toward the carrier a from one side of the hopper and be made apart thereof. Thus any ordinary cartridge-feeder may be secured to the gun to deliver cartridges to a hopper provided with said roller and curved lip, as illustrated in Fig. 10.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In a cartridge-feeder for guns, the combination, with the single-grooved cartridge-conductor b, of the vibrating double-grooved cartridge-conductor a, pivoted to an upright support on said single-grooved conductor, and the switch-plates z z, substantially as set forth.

2. The cartridge-conductor a, provided with two parallel flanged grooves, the partition between said grooves beingwedge-shaped on its front part, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the single-grooved cartridge-conductor b and wit-h the foot 0, the

fluted straightening-roller n, hung to revolve c, substantially as set the fluted roller, the lip, and carrier-wheel, ar-

substantially ranged relatively to each other as shown,so as to hold the cartridge in proper position between them until it is carried forward into the gun.

5. In combination, the single-grooved conductor b, the vibrating double-grooved condoctor a, spring 2, and piston 3, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

LUGIEN F. BRUCE.

Witnesses:

H. A. CHAPIN, J. D. GARFIELD. 

